Several dental and orthopedic conditions would benefit from an improved procedure for promoting bone regeneration or augmentation. The goal of this project is to develop a biodegradable osteoinductive preparation that will promote spatially-controlled bone regeneration in vivo. The preparation will consist of an osteoinductive growth factor and a collagen carrier, with the collagen carrier being derivatized by addition of photoactivatible groups. The preparation will be a viscous liquid when placed in the bone defect and will both solidify and bond to the remaining bone after being illuminated by a standard dental composite curing lamp. The collagen carrier will be a combination of insoluble particles of type I collagen (which will biodegrade slowly and provide an osteoconductive surface for migration and differentiation of osteoblasts) and photoderivatized type I collagen (which will crosslink to solidify the preparation). Three different photochemisty approaches will be compared for producing collagen gels, with the different variants being evaluated in vitro for strength and cytotoxicity, in rat implants as an inexpensive screening assay for bone formation in vivo, and in surgically-created bone defects in dogs as an efficacy test for bone regeneration around the roots of teeth. An osteoinductive collagen/GF preparation that can be crosslinked in vivo is expected to be used for several applications, including: 1) restoration of bone loss around the roots of teeth or dental implants, 2) augmentation of facial bones, 3) filling of defects in compound fractures, and 4) stabilization of vertebrae after spinal fusion. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATION: An osteoinductive collagen/growth factor preparation that can be crosslinked in vivo should have broad application in several areas, including: 1) restoration of bone loss around the roots of teeth or dental implants, 2) augmentation of facial bones, 3) filling of defects in compound fractures, and 4) stabilization of vertebrae after spinal fusion.